Your Cup Will Never Be Empty
by MoonAngelMusic
Summary: In a magic-less A/U, Hermione's failed marriage to Ron lead her to Harry Potter and happiness. But not without some ups and downs.
1. Backstory

Hermione Weasly was standing at the kitchen sink, her back toward the door, while Ron Weasly, her husband of the almost last two years, was saying his goodbyes to their one year old daughter, Emily-Anne. She was taking deep breaths, to prevent herself from crying. Thankfully, Emily had no clue what was going on.

Hermione...

She turned around, defiance in her eyes.

Bye Ron. Have a nice trip back home.

The door closed and Ron left the house he was sharing with his family for the past year. Hermione watched as he climbed in his car and drove away. Taking her daughter in her arms, she softly hugged her.

Don't worry baby girl. We'll be all right.

She then took on the gigantic task of packing the entire house. She only had ten days to find a new place and move and she was alone to do it.

- 1 year later -

Hermione Granger was driving her second load of boxes to her brand new apartment. The past year has been hard on her; she lost twenty-five pounds due to lack of food (but her daughter always had food on her plate), her job wasn't much of a secured one, she dated a couple of men but none of them lasted very long. One was her best friend, Nick. He couldn't settle down even if the world was coming to an end. The other was a childhood classmate, Dale. He wasn't family ready, and since Hermione had Emily... It didn't work out much.

She was under the government's wing since she worked about ten hours a week and couldn't make ends meet, as hard as she tried. In the past year, Ron came back about three times to visit his daughter. Her mother had been very sick with cancer and one evening, as she was desperately looking for a babysitter, she found an add on Facebook. Perle Davidson was advertising her home daycare, a 24/7 type of place. Hermione called and told her she needed a babysitter in 3 hours, for about four hours. There started a friendship between the older woman and Hermione. She had changed her name back to Granger but was still working on the divorce.

She was now moving in her babysitter's basement. Perle decided to rent her basement to Hermione when her daughter Shandy moved out. She absolutely loved Emily-Anne and wanted daughter and mother close by. The rent was very cheap, considering what the place included, and Hermione wasn't about to spit on a deal like that, especially with her financial state.

Nick and some guys he knew were in the car behind hers with their own load of boxes. Her father was in the front and her landlord, Perle's husband Ray, was leading them with a trailer of furniture. It was a warm October day. Nick had told Hermione on Wednesday to be ready to move on Saturday. Needless to say that Hermione packed until midnight those few last nights to be ready on time.

By ten that evening, everything was in their own room (not necessarily organized, but in their own room) and Nick had just left. For old time sake, they had started fooling around a bit after a long day of hard work.

Hermione took a long warm shower and crashed on her bed not even half an hour later. A long day was coming up. She would have to organize the whole place, all on her own. She wasn't very much looking forward to it - she was tired of moving. But, as she slid into sleep, she felt at home.

-  
Author's note

Story based on real-life events. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. As you're reading this, the second and maybe third one are being written. Please review!


	2. Unpacking

It's Sunday. Four p.m. Hermione slowly wakes up from her nap, as she hears a commotion upstairs. She knows that Ray has a jiu-jitsu class on Sundays in the dojo behind the house, but her over tired brain forgot about it.

In her raggedy jammies, her face still full of sleep, she makes her way upstairs, to the main house, to check on her daughter. Emily hasn't slept in the basement last night, as Perle wants Hermione to fully settle down before sending Emily to her. She made her way to the kitchen and stopped dead. There, sitting around the table, is about six men with Perle and Ray. The first thought coming to Hermione's head "Oh. People. I'm in my jammies."

Ray stood up and started to introduce his students to his new tenant.

Oh Hermione! These are my students! Sitting here at the counter is Sergei and Jeff. On the rocking chair in the back is Harry. And here is Marc A, Dan and Marc L. Guys, this is Emily's mother, Hermione. She moved in the basement where my daughter used to live before just yesterday.

Shy but too tired to care, Hermione looks around and her eyes rest on Marc L, sitting on her right. She raised and eyebrow and pointed at him with her finger.

I know you, don't I? High school?  
Yeah, answered Marc. We were in the same year. Did you went to the high school reunion in June?  
Yup, responded Hermione. I was on the comittee. You didn't?  
Nah. Had other things to do. But Mel kept bothering me, telling me I should go.  
Yeah, I know Mel annoyed a lot of people. But she wanted the reunion to be a success.

Their conversation is cut short as Ray cut in to talk about what the guys learned in their class. In the meantime, Hermione continues looking at the men. To be honest, all of them were right down fugly, except for the quiet lad on the rocking chair. What was his name again? She couldn't remember. At around four forty-five, the guys all left, except for the shy one in the rocking chair. He helped Ray and Perle putting on the table while Hermione was sitting with Emily. The toddler was showing her some book from her library in her room. As supper was ready, Perle took over.

-Ok, so, Ray, you will eat here. I'll here here. Hermione, eat right here beside Ray. Harry, you sit beside Hermione. Come now, no time to be shy. Food's ready. Emily! Go in the living room, Nana is coming with supper.

Shyly, Hermione and Harry sat where Perle told them too. The older lady served them chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables and every one started to eat. Harry would talk to Ray and Perle, but would barely glance toward Hermione. Hermione thought it would be best to keep to herself. She didn't feel completely comfortable at a "stranger's" table and she was still very tired.

Once supper was over, Perle sent Hermione back to her apartment, saying that she better continue unpacking. Protesting, Hermione said that she should be helping with the dishes.

Nonsense! I never had help doing the dishes and it won't start today. Get settled, it would be better. Ray and Harry will watch a movie and Emily will be happy here. Go!

Sighing, Hermione did as told. She blared some music and started the long and boring task of unpacking her kitchen. Her mind was going a mile an hour.

*Cookies go here, or no, here. Ok and pasta? I have way too much cans. Is that Emily I hear? I wonder if Nick will call back. Or text. Hmm what was the name of that man again? Starts with an H..' *

Second chapter! How was it? I know they're short, barely 700 words, but it's hard to type on this darn rubber keyboard. Review please! Don't worry, more coming!


	3. Conversation At Work

Days passed by slowly. In the morning and early afternoon, Hermione was unpacking and moving furniture around. In late afternoon, she was working her four hours shift at a local alternative school as the secretary and instructor. She would come home around seven-thirty, have a snack and continue unpacking. On Thursdays, she would drive up to Nick's place and have some fun with him. Even though she was crushing bad on the man, she knew it wouldn't go very far.

Every time she saw her friend Joana, they talk about her relationship with Nick.

- I dunno Jo, Hermione said while prompting her feet on her desk, sometimes I feel like there might be something there, but at the same time, I feel as if he just wants to get laid.  
- How old is the guy anyways?  
- Thirty-three, thirty-four. Something like that. Why?  
- Ew.  
Hermione look up to her friend with a quizzical look.  
-Oh God. Like, seriously? That old?  
- Uh... Jo... I'm twenty-seven. Thirty-four is a good age. But why "ew"?  
- He's been hitting on me!  
Hermione makes a sad face.  
- See? I'm sure he just wants to get laid. Ugh! And then there's this guy...  
- Ohh, tell me all about him!

So, Hermione starts talking about what happened the day before with this Harry.

- 24 hours prior -

_It was four in the after noon on Sunday and Hermione had came upstairs as usual to talk with Perle, Ray and the men from the jiu-jitsu class. The men all came in and started drinking and talking. Emily saw Harry and was very excited to see him._

_-Arriii, screamed the toddler!_

_Laughing, Harry picked up the little girl and started playing with her, making her laugh and wanting more. Hermione, sipping on her cola, was watching carefully her daughter, enjoying the joy she saw on her daughter's face. She hasn't seen it in a while... well... pure joy and happiness hasn't been on her face since Ron left. As the man and her daughter pass by her, she thinks she might say a little comment._

_You know... you act more like a father to her than her real dad did._

_Harry looked up to the young woman and smiled._

_Thanks. But I'm not trying to take over her father's place._  
_You just might..._

-Present-

Ohhh Hermione, that is fantastic! You think he might like you?, Joana asked excitedly.  
I dunno.  
She looked up at the time.

Well, class is about to start. You got kids to look after and I have students to teach to.

For the next hour, the youngest instructor of the school for adults of London, taught what she knew about computers, her students listening and asking questions when needed. They laughed and had fun, as their instructor made funny comments about the program they were learning. When it was time for the mid-class break, it didn't take two seconds that Joana was back in her classroom, skipping and eyes glowing, ready to continue their earlier conversation. Students stopped her to talk, knowing that Joana was the most approachable helper. Jo and Hermione were seven years apart, Jo being the youngest. They shared everything, acting as best of friends who knew each other for years when, in fact, they knew each other only for two months.

By the time students stopped talking to Jo and Hermione, break was over and Joana had to go back in her classroom. Class resumed until 3:30, when everyone packed up their things and said their goodbye to their favorite instructor.

Hermione was glad it was Friday, meaning she didn't have to work the extra four hours, as there was no evening classes on Friday. She slowly put her things away, made sure every computer in her classroom were shut down, turned out the light and walked out of her class. She said her goodbyes to the secretary and the coordinator before walking out of the school. She drove home, singing along the many successful songs playing on the radio and sometimes commenting out loud about the news.

- A teenager has been found stabbed on Perway Avenue in the early hours of the morning...  
- Another teenager? Man, what's the world coming to? she asked herself.  
- It's going to be cold this weekend, ladies and gents! Make sure to keep yourself warm and if you must go out, be sure to be well dressed.  
- Crap...

She has been planning to go to the Christmas parade the next day with her daughter. She thought Emily-Anne would love to see Santa. At two years old, after all the difficulties they went through in the past year, Emily could use a bit of happiness.

She remembered that Harry Potter was passing his belt the next day. Maybe, just maybe... she could catch a glimpse of him before leaving... or maybe... maybe even invite him along?

So, what do you think?

To answer some questions, this story is completely A/U, without any magic. Please review! :)


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